Regional Dossier series
The Maltese language in education in Malta (2nd Edition)
Lydia Sciriha (University of Malta)
Published online: May 2024
Highlights
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Despite its small size, Malta has two official languages – Maltese and English – and a few Maltese dialects.
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Across all education levels, educators acknowledge the importance of using both official languages; however, Church and Independent schools tend to favour English, whereas State schools predominantly teach in Maltese.
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Due to a high non-Maltese population, the Maltese language is becoming less widespread, with English now being more commonly used as the primary language of communication.
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To ensure the survival of Maltese, migrants living in Malta should be supported in learning the language as a way of integration, with locals also continuing to speak Maltese.
Maltese and its status in education in Malta
Maltese, or il-Malti, is a Semitic language closely related to Arabic in structure and morphology but is written from left to right and in the Latin script. When Malta became an independent state within the Commonwealth in 1964, the new Constitution highlighted the importance of Maltese by giving it both a national and an official status. Since 2002, Maltese has also been recognised as an official language within the EU. The systematic teaching of Maltese started in the early 20th century, and since 1946, Maltese has always been one of the core subjects in both primary and secondary education. Malta’s current guiding educational framework, the National Curriculum Framework from 2012, does not outline a policy regarding the language of instruction, but does recognise the need for such a policy, and efforts have been undertaken to address these issues of entitlement, culture, and implementation. In response to the increasing numbers of pupils in Maltese schools whose first language is neither Maltese nor English, courses have recently been developed to teach Maltese as a foreign language.
Maltese in educational research
Educational research has shown that, in most schools, educators are aware of the need to introduce both Maltese and English at an early age and to create activities where both languages are used. The majority of State school educators focus on Maltese, while in Independent and Church schools, however, there is an emphasis on English. Research on Maltese in education is mainly carried out at the University of Malta. Maltese linguistics is also studied internationally, and the International Association of Maltese Linguistics was founded to serve as a platform to stimulate the study of Maltese and connect researchers interested in Maltese linguistics.
Prospects for Maltese in Malta
Malta has now become a country with a high non-Maltese population. It is therefore not surprising that spoken Maltese is slowly becoming less widespread, since English has de facto taken its place. Maltese does not have the same market value and power as its co-official language, English, and many migrants decide to come to work in Malta because they know that the language of communication will not present a barrier. If the Maltese language is to survive and be appreciated fully, it must be given more importance. This could be achieved by supporting migrants of all ages in learning the Maltese language in order to integrate effectively into Maltese society.
Il-Malti u l-istatus tiegħu fl-edukazzjoni f’ Malta
Il-Malti hu lsien Semitiku li għandu l-għeruq tiegħu, l-aktar dawk strutturali u morfoloġiċi fl-Għarbi, iżda hu miktub mix-xellug għal-lemin bħal-Latin. Meta Malta saret Stat Indipendenti fi ħdan il-Commonwealth fl-1964, il-Kostituzzjoni l-ġdida tat importanza lill-Malti meta ngħata l-istatus kemm tal-ilsien nazzjonali kif ukoll ta’ wieħed uffiċjali. Mill-2002 il-Malti ġie rikonoxxut ukoll bħala lsien uffiċjali fl-Unjoni Ewopea. It-tagħlim tal-Malti b’mod sistematiku beda fil-bidu tas-seklu għoxrin, u mill-1946 il-Malti dejjem kien wieħed mis-suġġetti ewlenin kemm fl-edukazzjoni primarja kif ukoll f’dik sekondarja. Il-qafas edukattiv li jiggwida t-tagħlim preżenti tal-Malti huwa d-dokument Il-Qafas tal-Kurrikulu Nazzjonali Għal Kulħadd (2012). Dan id-dokument ma jagħtix politika speċifika dwar it-tagħlim partikolari tal-lingwa Maltija, iżda jirrikonoxxi dan il-bżonn. Fih saru sforzi biex jiġu diskussi temi bħad-dritt għat-taghlim, il-kultura u l-implimentazzjoni tagħhom. Bħala reazzjoni għan-numru dejjem jikber ta’ studenti fl-iskejjel Maltin fejn l-ewwel ilsien tagħhom la huwa l-Malti u lanqas l-Ingliż, korsijiet tal-lingwa Maltija ġew żviluppati biex huma jiġu mgħallma l-Malti bħala lsien barrani.
Il-Malti fir-riċerka edukattiva
Ir-riċerka edukattiva turi li, f’ħafna skejjel, l-edukaturi jifhmu l-ħtieġa li jintroduċu kemm il-Malti kif ukoll l-Ingliż minn età bikrija, u li jiġu mfassla attivitajiet fejn iż-żewġ ilsna jintużaw. Il-maġġoranza tal-edukaturi li jgħallmu fl-iskejjel Statali jagħtu importanza lill-Malti, filwaqt li fl-iskejjel tal-Knisja u dawk Indipendenti jagħfsu aktar fuq l-Ingliż. Ir-riċerka dwar il-Malti fl-edukazzjoni ssir l-aktar fl-Università ta’ Malta. Il-Lingwistika Maltija hija studjata wkoll internazzjonalment, u l-Assoċjazzjoni Internazzjonali tal-Lingwistika Maltija tnediet biex isservi bħala pjattaforma ħalli tistimula l-istudju tal-Malti u ġġib flimkien riċerkaturi fil-Lingwistika Maltija.
Prospetti għall-Maltin f’Malta
Malta żvilluppat f’pajjiż b’popolazzjoni mdaqqsa ta’ nies li mhumiex Maltin. Għaldaqstant, wieħed jifhem li l-Malti mitkellem qed jonqos għax l-Ingliż fil-fatt qed joħodlu postu. Il-Malti m’għandux il-valur ekonomiku u s-saħħa daqskemm għandu l-Ingliż, l-ilsien ko-uffiċjali mal-Malti. Ħafna immigranti jagħżlu li jiġu jgħixu f’Malta minħabba l-fatt li l-lingwa ta’ kommunikazzjoni mhux ser tkun ta’ ostaklu għalihom, għax jafu bl-Ingliż. Sabiex l-ilsien Malti jibqa’ jeżisti u jiġi apprezzat b’mod sħiħ, għandu jingħata aktar importanza. Wieħed jista’ jagħmel dan billi jgħin lill-immigranti ta’ kull età jitgħallmu l-ilsien Malti ħalli jintegraw b’mod effettiv fis-soċjetà Maltija.
About this Regional Dossier
Author biography
Lydia Sciriha, PhD, is professor of linguistics at the University of Malta. She previously served as director of its Language Laboratory Complex from 1987 to 1993. Sciriha has been a visiting professor at 11 universities in Europe and as a professorial fellow in Melbourne, Australia. She has been awarded the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship, the British Council Scholarship, the Marquis Scicluna Senior Fellowship, and the Commonwealth Academic Fellowship. Sciriha has authored, co-authored, and edited 16 books and numerous scientific papers.
Previous editions
The first edition (2013) was written by Prof. Lydia Sciriha and reviewed by Prof. Mario Vassal-lo (University of Malta).